I'm looking for advice on upgrading my PC. I mainly play action RPGs such as Elden Ring and Black Myth: Wukong at 1440p on a 165Hz monitor, and I also use the system heavily for music composition in MuseScore and managing large tabletop RPG campaigns in Obsidian.
Current specifications:
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900
- Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360L Core AIO
- Motherboard: Gigabyte B650M GAMING X AX
- Memory: 1x16GB Kingston DDR5-6000, running at CL32 with EXPO
- GPU: ASUS Dual RTX 4060 8GB
- Storage: 1TB Samsung 870 EVO SATA SSD
- Monitor: Samsung Odyssey G50A, 1440p and 165Hz
- PSU: Exact model and wattage currently unknown
The RTX 4060 seems to struggle at 1440p, while the single memory stick may be limiting multitasking and overall performance. I'm wondering whether I should add a second matching 16GB stick, replace the graphics card, or move to an NVMe SSD first. What upgrade order would provide the biggest improvement, and are there particular parts worth considering?
3 Answers
The graphics card is the biggest limitation for 1440p gaming, so that should be the main upgrade target once you confirm the power supply can handle it. A Radeon RX 9070 XT would offer a major step up with 16GB of VRAM, though a suitable modern Nvidia or AMD card in your budget could also work.
Adding a second matching memory module is still a cheap and worthwhile improvement. Your 6000MT/s CL32 kit has good timings, and moving to 32GB in dual channel should help when running Obsidian, MuseScore, a browser, and games together. The SATA SSD is much less urgent: an NVMe drive will mostly improve load times rather than dramatically change gaming performance.
The single memory stick is definitely suboptimal because it prevents the system from using dual-channel memory properly. It may not hurt DDR5 performance as dramatically as it would with older DDR4 systems, but adding a matching 16GB module is still a good first step for multitasking. After that, the RTX 4060 is clearly the gaming bottleneck at 1440p, so the graphics card should be your next major purchase. Check the PSU before selecting a higher-power model.
A sensible order would be GPU first, then 32GB of RAM, followed by an NVMe drive. The 4060’s 8GB of VRAM is the main reason demanding games can struggle at 1440p. Depending on pricing, a 16GB RX 9070 XT would be a stronger long-term choice than similarly priced lower-tier cards, especially if you don’t need Nvidia-specific features.
The 16GB system-memory configuration is also not ideal for your productivity workload, so adding the matching module is worthwhile even if it doesn’t transform gaming by itself. An NVMe upgrade is optional unless you need more space or faster loading; the existing SATA SSD is still perfectly usable for games and applications.
That order makes sense. I’ll add the second RAM stick immediately because it’s inexpensive, then verify the PSU and start comparing current-generation GPUs. The NVMe drive can wait until I need more storage or faster load times.
The memory is Kingston KF560C32-16 running at 6000MT/s CL32-38-38-80 and 1.35V with EXPO, so I’ll add a second identical stick for 32GB. I’ll keep the SATA SSD for now and put most of the upgrade budget toward the GPU. I’ll also check the exact PSU model before buying anything more powerful.